"Hey, meat head," Toph called from the doorway. I looked up at her. She wasn't looking at me; of course, this was to be expected. She was wearing a light green dress though and I had no idea why.
"What is it, Toph? And what's with the dress?" I asked.
"It's just a dress. Geez, can't a girl wear a dress without being questioned about it?" She twisted her thumb and forefinger together before saying a little abashedly, "Sokka, I, uh, I want to go on a walk with you."
I smirked at her defensiveness and replied, "Sure! A walk sounds good."
She gave a slight smile before jamming her hand into the pocket of her dress and motioning for me to come with her.
We exited the house we were staying in in the Earth Kingdom. Our path weaved through the middle of town, went down to a large grassy park with a river running through it, and alongside this river.
I couldn't help but keep wondering about that dress. I had known Toph for seven years and in all that time, I had never seen her want to wear a dress. Katara tried to make her wear one to our friend's wedding in the Southern Water Tribe once; Toph insisted that she wouldn't be able to earthbend as well in a dress and therefore refused to wear one.
We hadn't been together for very long when this happened; maybe a few months. We've stayed together since though. The wedding was three years ago.
"Hey, Toph," I began, "did Katara make you wear that? I don't really see why she would though. I mean today's not anything special, right? Oh wait. Oh- oh no. I didn't forget yours or Katara's birthday, did I? Because I was planning on getting you something, I just-"
"Hey, Sokka!" she interjected, "Calm down. It's nobody's birthday. I just wanted to wear a dress, alright? Sheesh. We're almost there anyways."
"Almost where?" I asked.
Toph suddenly stopped at the top of a bridge. I looked around at the beautiful scenery. It was very green. Trees dotted the ground and the river we were standing over was clear, small, and soothing.
She turned to face me slowly and a bit shakily. She cleared her throat and began, "Um, this is probably my favorite place in the world. My parents used to bring me here when I was little and I would throw bread crumbs down to the turtleducks on the river below. I couldn't see them, but I could always hear them quacking at me. It was really nice to know that somebody loved me and was able overlook the fact that I'm blind. They kind of just… didn't notice that I couldn't see them and loved me for the food I gave them."
She paused for a minute and leaned against the bridge's wooden railing. I brushed a strand of dark hair away from her pale face. She punched me on the arm lightly and said, "Kind of like you, noodle brain."
I cleared my throat and gently, albeit nervously, got out, "Toph, why did you bring me here? It's really beautiful, but I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do something like this without a good reason for it."
I also leaned against the railing of the bridge and took her hand. She breathed out a sigh; I couldn't tell whether this was in annoyance, leisure, or anticipation.
"S-Sokka," she turned to face me, "I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a really long time." She huffed out another, less graceful sigh.
She took her hand back from mine and walked a couple paces away, seeming to debate something with herself briefly before returning to me. She squared her shoulders, turned to face me and reached for my hand again (a bit roughly). I let her take it, all the while watching her for what she might do. I had no clue with this strange behavior of hers. My head was spinning with possible scenarios of what could and couldn't be happening. The only thing I had ruled out so far was that Toph was an alien sent to earth to capture and seduce me, only to bring me back to her people and experiment on me. Then again, you never know...
"Toph?" I questioned.
"Sokka, I-" she gulped in air and screwed her eyes shut, despite the fact that she couldn't see out of them anyway. "I want you to marry me!"
I stared blankly at her for a minute. She slowly opened her eyes.
Fumbling in the pocket of her dress, she pulled out a small box. "I have a ring, if that makes any diff- WHOA!"
I had hugged her at that point. It was a big swooping hug that I poured every one of my emotions into; I lifted her off her feet and spun around with her.
"Of course I'll marry you, Toph. I love you."
She held her head in one hand and said, "Oh my god. Sokka. Thank you!"
I grabbed her hand again. She found my ring finger and slipped the ring on it. We sighed in unison, leaning back against the railing and basking in this new glow of happiness. We had a lot of happy glows ahead of us.